Harvard Law School’s Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics recently hosted a webinar where research co-authors Piers M. Gooding and Lydia X.Z. Brown discussed the ethics of using artificial intelligence to address mental health concerns. The panel included experts in artificial intelligence in healthcare and mental health, including Carlos A. Larrauri of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Rhonda Moore of the National Institutes of Health, and Sara Gerke of Penn State Dickinson Law.
Gooding and Brown opened the webinar to contextualize technological developments in mental health, such as social media surveillance. Through conversations with community members, they found that people were fearful about sharing online information due to the risk of data being shared with law enforcement. Gooding also discussed the research group’s collaborative approach, which focuses on capturing lived experiences.
The panel then addressed both the potential advantages and restrictions of using AI for mental health treatment. Larrauri discussed the impact of his own mental health struggles and emphasized the need for a patient-centered approach. Gerke reviewed the objectivity of AI but also addressed potential privacy concerns. Moore discussed the importance of exploring the Global South, specifically in postcolonial and decolonial computing. In the discussion following, Brown discussed the importance of contextualizing AI within existing systemic issues.
The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law, Policy, Biotechnology and Bioethics is part of the Harvard Law School and focuses on the study of law and health. The institution provides public information, journals, policy advice and research and more, related to health law, biotechnology and bioethics. Their experts often participate in public seminars, like the one mentioned, as many of their research projects tend to have a major impact on healthcare and the legal implications that it has.
Piers M. Gooding is a research fellow at the Melbourne Law School’s Centre for AI and Digital Ethics. His research focuses on the ethical implications of Artificial Intelligence and the use of data and the Human Rights impact of these developments. He is an adjunct professor and a core faculty member in the Disability Studies Program at Georgetown University and is the co-author of the 2022 report “Digital Futures in Minds: Reflecting on Technological Experiments in Mental Health and Crisis Support.”
Lydia X.Z. Brown is a disability justice activist, a grassroots organizer, writer, and educator. They are a full-time Lecturer at the University of Massachusetts Boston, an adjunct Lecturer at Georgetown University, and a core faculty member in the Disability Studies Program. Their research examines intersections of law and public policy, disability justice, and social movements among other topics. They have also published extensively on various issues related to disability justice and the criminalization of disabled people.
